Santo Claus; The Gift that Keeps on Giving

This Leafs season has a couple of ties to the Nashville Predators. On November 19th the Preds handed the Leafs a 9-2 loss at the ACC, which proved to be the wakeup call this team needed, going 9-1-1 since the mid November debacle. During this streak, the Leafs have seen improved play from a majority of the team, however, they have been led by an unsuspecting player, who happens to be a former Nashville Predator.

 Mike Santorelli was picked 178th overall in the 6th round of the 04 NHL entry draft by the Predators. Santorelli spent the bulk of his time in Milwaukee with the Preds AHL affiliate, scoring 171Pts (74G, 97A) over 3 seasons with the Preds AHL affiliate. He only ended up playing 32 games with the big club in Nashville, making his NHL debut in the 08/09 season. In 2010/11 Santorelli became a member of the Florida Panthers, and finally experienced his first full 82 game season, where he posted his career highs in goals (20), assists (21) and points (41). Following the success of this season, he would experience a huge drop off, appearing in only 60 games. During the lockout season he played 4 games in Sweden for Tingsryds AIF, and 24 games for the Panthers, before eventually ending up in the AHL once again and closing out the season in Winnipeg. It appeared as though he would end up another journeyman playing in the NHL, bouncing from team to team, never being able to find a home.

 Last season, Santorelli signed with his 4th NHL team, the Vancouver Canucks. In what was a productive season, he played 49 games and finished the season with 10G, 18A for 28Pts, while also earning league wide recognition for his play on the penalty kill. However, the theme of not being able to stick with an NHL club continued as Santorelli did not receive a new contract from the Canucks. Luckily for the Leafs, and Santorelli, this season Dave Nonis and the rest of the Toronto front office realized that depth was something an NHL team needed to do things like win hockey games.

 In an offseason where the Leafs turned their attention to addressing the depth (or lack thereof) on the team, by signing guys such as; Leo Komarov, Daniel Winnik and David Booth. Perhaps the best offseason move the Leafs made came on July 3rd when the signed Mike Santorelli to a 1yr, $1.5 million deal. In the Leafs current 9-1-1 streak, Santorelli leads the team in scoring (3G, 10A, 13 Pts) and seems to have found great chemistry on the Leafs hottest line alongside Kadri and Winnik. For the season, Santorelli has 6G, 16A, 22Pts, which puts him on pace to set career highs in all three categories. Santorelli is 4th overall in team scoring, behind only Kessel, Bozak and JVR, and is tied for 2nd overall in the entire league in +/- (+17). Also, Santorelli (along with Winnik) has been a pivotal piece of the Leafs 10th ranked penalty kill. For a $1.5 million dollar "prove it" contract, so far Santorelli is setting himself up for an "I proved it, now pay me" contract next offseason.

 It has been fun to watch the Leafs on this current streak, and all of us in Leafs nation hope that it continues. The highlight for me personally has been the emergence and consistent play of Mike Santorelli, a journeyman NHLer who is quickly becoming a fan favourite here in Toronto. It's still too early to tell if he will finally be able to land a long term deal to stay with the Maple Leafs, however, if he continues to play at the level he is, this may turn out to be a match made in hockey heaven, and Santorelli may finally have found a place to call home.

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Game on!

It's over!  The lockout is over!  My how quick everyone's attitude has changed in the last 12 hours.  Okay, maybe not everyone's, but a lot of people's attitude has changed since the announcement was made.

A 10 year deal is fantastic, but there is a catch.  There is an opt out at year 8, available to both the owners and the players.  Either side may decline the opt out, but we'll talk about that when that time comes.

First things first.  Roberto Luongo is heavily rumoured to be heading to The Leafs.  This is an alright idea if the Leafs want to make the playoffs, but a terrible idea if they want to actually contend for a Stanley Cup Championship.   We all have seen what Luongo does when he is under pressure.

The NHL will probably be looking at a 48 game season.  Here is what the NHL looked like after 48 games last season.

NHL sends memo to clubs indicating no camps before Saturday (and may not open until Monday), 48-game season to begin Jan. 19
— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) January 7, 2013

After the 1st 48 games last year the playoffs were set.  In fact only one team manage to sneak in after the 48 game mark and that was the Coyotes.  They went on that magical run to the West final on the back of goaltender Mike Smith.

Also through 48 games, this is what Kessel and Lupul's point totals were.

Player	Goals	Assists	Points
Kessel	26	25	51
Lupul	20	32	52

When it is all said and one and the deal it ratified by the ownership and the union, I'll be pumped and ready to watch NHL hockey once again.  Along with my son, who at only 10 months, his eyes are glued to the TV when hockey is on, just the way I like it.

Magic Numbers - March23

So, with only a few weeks left in the season, here is the list of magic numbers to have the Leafs eliminated mathematically. Team is on the left, and the number of points they need to be untouchable (by the Leafs) is in the middle, and the record each team needs at minimum to stay past the Leafs in the standings is on the right. All this is assuming the Leafs win their last 8 games. I didn't bother putting in Boston, because they only need 1 point, with 10 games left, to be untouchable for the Leafs.

Team	Points Needed	Lowest Record Needed
Florida	1	0-7-1
Ottawa	2	1-4-1
Washington	6	2-4-2
Buffalo	4	2-5
Winnipeg	9	4-2-1
Carolina	12	6-0

*as of 11:38pm March 23rd 2012.

That being said, these teams still play each other down the stretch. These games are deadly considering how close they all are in the standings. Everyone of these games could go to OT and be 3 point games.
Washington: Florida, Buffalo and Winnipeg
Florida: Washington, Carolina and Winnipeg
Ottawa: Winnipeg and Carolina
Buffalo: Washington and Toronto (2)
Winnipeg: Washington, Florida, Ottawa and Carolina
Carolina: Florida, Ottawa, Toronto and Winnipeg
So, yes, the Leafs are not mathematically eliminated from the playoffs yet, but, their maximum points are 5 points short of the usual playoff minimum for the Eastern Conference.